Anyone signed up with more than one IMO? Is this common?

[titeye]

Then go with one IMO until you find a need for more. Wednesday will mark my official 20 years as an agent. I have one IMO I use. For life and medicare.

You got back into medicare?

 

[Diana2024]

The question I think you really want to ask is, "what is each IMO bringing to the table?"
Most of them do nothing more than act as a middleman between you and each carrier. Unfortunately, an agent cannot contract with most companies without this 3rd party. Consequently, they get paid off of every single policy you submit while you are under them. That is the reason behind them frowning upon you having multiple IMO relationships.
If you don't write, they don't get paid off of you. That makes you the boss. Interview them like you would anyone else you would consider employing. They are a dime a dozen, until you find one that understands it must compete continuously for your business.

Unfortunately, most of them are private owned. This means their financial records are not public information. You have no way of verifying whether they are solvent or not. I lost one of my appointments because I did not do my due diligence and an IMO went out of business.

Thank you, this is helpful. I've been asking each one I speak with exactly that ... what they bring to the table. Since I'm new to this, I need support until I learn all of this and I'm asking them what they offer in support.

 

[goillini52]

Okay, so one IMO I've been communicating with and trying to decide if I want to go with them has told me that 70% of the commission comes directly from the carrier right away and then the IMO pays the remaining 30% to me within 2-3 weeks. So it sounds like I would be assigning part of my commission to the IMO, is that correct?

Here is the response I received from this IMO when I asked what the commissions are: "Basic rule of thumb… 85% 10 year term, 90-95% 15 year term, 100-105% on 20 and 30 year term. UL and IUL is in the 90-100% range based on carrier and product selection. Yes, you get a bulk from the insurance carrier and an override from us to get you to these gross numbers."

That doesn't sound right...or truthful to me.

 

[Diana2024]

That doesn't sound right...or truthful to me.

Okay, thank you. My initial reaction was the same but because I'm so new to this, I wasn't sure.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

Okay, so one IMO I've been communicating with and trying to decide if I want to go with them has told me that 70% of the commission comes directly from the carrier right away and then the IMO pays the remaining 30% to me within 2-3 weeks.

This sounds like a NY agency.

 

[jdeasy]

You got back into medicare?

I never stopped doing sups. Officially anyway. I try to not write sups.

I quit writing MA in 2009.

My sup contracts are under FEX. FEX has a Medicare division too.

If I wanted to do MA again it would be with FEX. But that’s not happening.

 

[BillBateman]

I'm new to all of this (newly licensed in Cali) ... and I spoke with an agency that indicated that they're fine if their agents are with more than one IMO.

Does anyone do this? Is the common? Is anyone signed up with more than one IMO in order to have access to more carriers ... like say, one IMO uses six carriers and the other IMO uses different carriers? Would this make sense to do to have more carriers available to use like say if you couldn't get a client written with certain carriers but can with another carrier with a different IMO? Thank you in advance for your feedback.

I've been a recruiter/manager for a long time (35 years) and 10 years in personal production before that. Being with multiple IMO's/MGA's/GeneralAgencies etc is not uncommon but it does add a layer of complication in many cases because you have multiple contacts when you need some help and multiple incoming distractions from the different hierarchies. So, consolidate where you can.

That said, the reality is most of the Marketing Organizations have a core proficiency and are rarely "top notch" in different niches. So the one that's great with Group Benefits, versus Medicare Advantage, versus Medicare Supplement, versus Final Expense (etc) is often different.

We do almost all of our MAPD business with AgentPipeline, almost all of our Medicare Supplement business with American Independent Marketing, half our life contracts are direct, same with our annuity contracts and group contracts.

But keep your business as simple as possible. Time organizing is time away from prospecting and enrolling.

 

[Baseball7]

No